This the second post in the “What’s It Like?” series, sharing the stories of District 742.
It would be an understatement to say that Kerry Kopp, the advanced placement physics and chemistry teacher at Tech High School, knows how to challenge his students to expand their curiosity every day.
The focus: address students’ curiosity and encourage them to be curious. The purpose: to bridge the gap of curiosity and knowledge.
Kopp’s method: “Ask a lot of questions. It often times leads to more questions which is that higher-learning that we want to promote.”
The emphasis this semester in Kopp’s physics class is on forces, energy and momentum.
The students are tasked with creating a wind turbine out of any materials they’d like. The energy used to power the turbines is steam, created by a Bunsen burner and flask.
Kopp says, “They have to solve a problem, complete the task, accomplish a goal [on their own], instead of being told [step-by-step] what to do and how to calculate it.”
The challenge for this assignment is to convert the steam to mechanical energy and determine how much energy is generated.
“Understanding is more important [than whether the project succeeds or fails]. They need to learn how everything works,” adds Kopp.
The prototypes range from paper-made turbines to pinwheels, sliced plastic cups to towers with aluminum foil blades.
Kopp approaches a group and asks, “So why does that [second prototype] work better than the first one?”
He is addressing a group of students that had an unsuccessful first attempt. Each of the students speak as to how their second model is creating less friction and is lighter in weight, allowing the turbine to move.
Kopp challenges the students, “Do you want to stop [be finished] or do you think you can get some more energy?”
The three students continue. They are determined to also make their first model work.
It is definitely trial and error. Many students move the position of the turbines in relation to the steam. They are trying to figure if the increase of the turbine speed will increase the energy output.
“If the project doesn’t succeed [produce energy] and they can still tell me how everything works, where things went wrong and still be able to calculate energy in some way, they succeed. They have the knowledge and the understanding,” says Kopp.
Touring the class, students are creative in how to measure energy. Many are using their cell phones to record the turbines spinning. They can then determine how many rotations per second to figure the rate at which the turbine is spinning.
Others are connecting their turbine to voltage meter readers. When the light bulb turns on, they know they are creating at least four volts of electricity.
“The course is designed to be similar to a college course,” states Kopp. “Hands-on experience is what colleges are looking for in students these days. That element is often times missing.”
Mick Boatz, the AP Calculus teacher agrees. After 47 years of teaching, he is still passionate about math.
Boatz says, “What makes me enthusiastic is the kids. They make me want to come to work on Monday.”
He explains the difference between his AP Calculus and his general Calculus class. “The experiences are similar. [AP] is just at a much faster rate.”
Everything that you’d learn in his BC Calculus class is comparative to 1 1/2 semesters of a college calculus course. Students who pass the BC test at the end of the year are eligible for up to two semester credits at a college or university.
It takes initiative and preparation to be in an advanced placement class. For the AP physics and chemistry, a student has to have completed Calculus or Algebra II.
However, a student can start in the AP program as early as their freshman year.
“Of course the student has to be willing to try, ” states Kopp. “It is better to try it and have to decrease in class, then try to move up part way through the year, because the student would have missed so much already.”
Kopp, who has been teaching for 20 years, says, “I really enjoy it. I’m curious. I want them to be curious.”
